Man pleads not guilty to bilking widow out of $225,000

A former financial adviser accused of stealing millions from professional athletes pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he scammed $225,000 from a Wilmette widow he met on a dating Web site.

Donald Dayton Lukens, 58, was indicted Jan. 7 on felony theft and forgery charges after being arrested in an upscale Lake Shore Drive condominium. He recently posted bond, agreeing to the condition that he remain confined to his home address.

"He is absolutely innocent of the charges and will have his day in court," said his lawyer, Damon Cheronis, at the arraignment at the Skokie courthouse.

Lukens met Marietta Egen, 52, on the match.com dating site in July 2006. He told her he would "triple" the money she invested after her husband's death. Instead, he took the money for his own use, according to Wilmette investigators.

Lukens was accused in 2001 of defrauding more than 100 investors &#8212; many of them professional athletes and celebrities &#8212; of more than $25 million in California.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in September 2002 ordered Lukens to repay $4.7 million to his former clients, and barred him from acting as a financial investment adviser. The FBI investigated him for years but never filed criminal charges, according to news reports.

The SEC found that Lukens had used multiple tactics to steal money, including setting up shell companies, and paying earlier investors in a Ponzi-type scheme, according to the SEC complaint.

The SEC is participating in an ongoing investigation by Wilmette police, Detective Solveig Sullivan said.

On Wednesday, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Ankur Srivastava called Lukens a flight risk, saying Lukens has not surrendered his passport as a condition of bail. Cook County jail officials said they released Lukens' personal property to another unidentified person who posted bond Jan. 11, but Lukens maintains he never received the passport. His lawyer, Cheronis, said the passport is expired anyway.

A pretrial services officer, whom Lukens is required to contact regularly as he awaits trial, also said that he "has certain reservations," because of the passport issue and because Lukens had changed his phone number within a week of being released from jail.

At that point, Cook County Circuit Judge Larry Axelrood reminded Lukens that if he fails to appear in court, he may be convicted in his absence. He said that Lukens may leave his residence only to meet with his attorney at predetermined times or to use his condominium's gym between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.